Sen. Marco Rubio was dismissive Sunday of some conservatives' concerns that Democrats are taking advantage of him to help pass an immigration bill.

"Immigration reform is something that all Americans recognize has to be done," the Florida Republican said on ABC's "This Week," after being pressed on whether Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is "playing him," as commentator Ann Coulter has claimed.

"I don't focus a lot on public polling, but if you look at these public polls, it's clear the vast majority of Americans understand that what we have in place in this country is de facto amnesty, a broken legal immigration system that needs to be reformed," he said.

That came after Rubio had already offered an even more dismissive answer to host Jon Karl, who asked "Are you being played by the Democrats? Is Chuck Schumer playing you, is essentially the charge?"

Rubio's answer: "I don't -- I quite frankly, I don't even know what that means."

Rubio was also insistent that while some conservatives are opposed to the immigration bill, he agrees with them on "virtually every other issue."

Latinos, should be a natural constituency for the party, Paul argued, but "Republicans have pushed them away with harsh rhetoric over immigration." ...he would create a bipartisan panel to determine how many visas should be granted for workers already in the United States and those who might follow... [and the buried lead] "Imagine 12 million people who are already here coming out of the shadows to become new taxpayers... [Rand Paul calls on conservatives to embrace immigration reform]

...by softening its edge on some volatile social issues and altering its image as the party always seemingly "eager to go to war... We do need to expand the party and grow the party and that does mean that we don't always all agree on every issue" ... the party needs to become more welcoming to individuals who disagree with basic Republican doctrine on emotional social issues such as gay marriage... "We're going to have to be a little hands off on some of these issues ... and get people into the party," Paul said. [Rand Paul: Time for GOP to soften war stance]

One day after announcing on his radio show that he is "truly considering" running in 2014 for the U.S. Senate seat now held by New Jersey's Frank Lautenberg, Rivera amped up his message today in a television interview and a column on the Fox News Latino website... a moderate Republican who is fiscally conservative but also supports gay marriage and Roe v. Wade... [Geraldo Rivera declares himself a 'moderate Republican' as he eyes U.S. Senate run]

11
posted on 06/16/2013 5:43:48 PM PDT
by SunkenCiv
(McCain or Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)

“I don’t focus a lot on public polling, but if you look at these public polls, it’s clear the vast majority of Americans understand that what we have in place in this country is de facto amnesty, a broken legal immigration system that needs to be reformed,” he said. “

Maybe someone should explain is that the reason we have defacto amnesty is because our goverment refuses to do one of the only things it is Constitutionally mandated to do and that is protect our borders. Where do we keep finding these geniuses?

So, what makes us think the FED will enforce border security under a new law -- especially when that new law does not mandate enforcement, but rather gives Homeland Security the option to enforce. If, after 5 years, Homeland Security hasn't secured the border, a new commission is formed.

Oh yeah, like that is going to work. And what about the millions more who will cross the border during that 5 years?

I'd be willing to bet Rubio hasn't even read all of the 800 page bill he's pushing for Schumer and Durbin.

Former New York lieutenant governor Betsy McCaughey bets you cant find five members of Congress who have read the Senate Gang of Eight immigration bill.

The former Democrat is experienced at reading large bills the Congress seems inclined to pass without reading, such as Obamacare. She tabs them, underlines them and tries to see the big picture of what will happen if the provisions of the bill are implemented.

In an interview with The Daily Callers Ginni Thomas, McCaughey brought her dog-eared immigration bill with her and pointed to it repeatedly

22
posted on 06/16/2013 5:50:11 PM PDT
by Baynative
(Lord, keep one hand on my shoulder and the other over my mouth.)

I beg to differ. Schumer is working to get Democrats elected and sticking it to the American people. Rubio was elected to prevent that from happening. Who's worse - Charles Cornwallis (Schumer) or Benedict Arnold (Rubio)?

26
posted on 06/16/2013 5:55:18 PM PDT
by Zhang Fei
(Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.)

I do NOT want to see omnibus comprehensive bills which are full of provisions which we don’t know about, and don’t come to light until a bill is signed into law.

Didn’t we learn from Obamacare that continually changing the wording of bills up until the last minute, and voting on a 2000 page bill nobody has read, is a recipe for disaster?

An 800 page bill is a big NO vote in my opinion.

We may need to make some changes to immigration, and deal with illegal aliens, but doing it in some “comprehensive overhaul” is unlikely to accomplish what people hope for.

Break it into pieces and let’s vote on that. Let’s secure the border, vote on that first. Let’s decide what should be done about illegal aliens, separate from the major increase in LEGAL immigration which is part of this huge bill. Let’s break it all up and deal with individually. And let’s have the guts to vote NO and risk being criticized by the MSNBC crowd.

"I don't focus a lot on public polling, but if you look at these public polls, it's clear the vast majority of Americans understand that what we have in place in this country is de facto amnesty, a broken legal immigration system that needs to be reformed," he said.

Yeah, by reform, most Americans want them arrested, processed and deported. Enforce the law. BTW, the NSA should be able to locate every single one of them seeing as how they know anyone that's called or received foreign phone calls.

Yeah, and the industrialists, SA, the Weimar crowd and the German generals all thought that they could keep that Hitler fellow on a short leash while he fronted for them. Remind me how that worked out.

I beg to differ. Schumer is working to get Democrats elected and sticking it to the American people. Rubio was elected to prevent that from happening. Who's worse - Charles Cornwallis (Schumer) or Benedict Arnold (Rubio)?

That is a good point. In a war battle, who would you despise more, your enemy who is fighting to defeat you, or soldiers from your own side who joined with your enemy to fight against you?

He’s pushing legislation that will destroy this country and lying about it. He’s flipping and flopping (now no enforcement first, though earlier he promised he wouldn’t support it unless enforcement came first). I’ll never trust this jerk on anything in the future.

Im getting madder at Rubio by the day. Hes pushing legislation that will destroy this country and lying about it. Hes flipping and flopping (now no enforcement first, though earlier he promised he wouldnt support it unless enforcement came first). Ill never trust this jerk on anything in the future.

The flip flopping is just for public consumption - he presents the face most conducive to winning future elections, depending on the audience. Ultimately, the guy's no Benedict Arnold - Arnold could be bought, whereas Rubio's core conviction is that we need to replace the American population with tens of millions of people from Latin America.

36
posted on 06/16/2013 6:14:46 PM PDT
by Zhang Fei
(Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.)

The nation is crumbling with all kinds of corruption; big government waste, cronyism, kickbacks, special interests running the agenda for themselves as each layer of government becomes deeper while there is no oversight. Then they tell us to trust them by making another huge layered of government. No one should be doing anything. Because haven't they done enough already. Obamacare, now compassionate amnesty. They should have no support on this from all of us. They are working for themselves. They don't care about us out here who make the country work but we don't get a say.

"Immigration reform is something that all Americans recognize has to be done," the Florida Republican said on ABC's "This Week," after being pressed on whether Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is "playing him,"

Frankly, it doesn't really matter whether Chuckie is "playing" Marco or not. Marco's statement about "immigration reform" tells us everything we need to know and, as other posters have noted, Rubio is "playing" conservatives.

40
posted on 06/16/2013 6:19:05 PM PDT
by DustyMoment
(Congress - another name for anti-American criminals!!)

Yes! De facto amnesty is here simply because this Just-us Dept refuses to enforce the laws already on the books. Why does Rubio even think any of the ‘safeguards’ in his Amnesty Bill will be enforced???

43
posted on 06/16/2013 6:25:04 PM PDT
by originalbuckeye
(Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy)

This whole affair has had two objectives:
1. Neutalize Rubio. The Dems saw him as a threat and realized that his ambition and ego could be exploited to ruin his conservative credentials. I’m sure they are assuring him that he’s now one of the “smart ones” who “see things as they really are” from Washington, not just a wet-behind-the-ears-senator from Florida who had it all wrong when he spouted all that Tea Party rhetoric. They made him the front man for all this crap, so when it goes south, he’ll get the blame, deservedly so. He’s toast. He couldn’t win his seat if he ran today.

2. Legalize 15 million people who are criminals by definition and who have not a clue about what it is to be an American with God-given rights. Sorry, it’s a cultural thing and I’ve experienced it first hand. There’s no outrage about big government or individual freedom since their experience is that government is big and corrupt, like ours is now...so, if they get to legally stay here by actions of that big corrupt government, so what?....”hey man, they let us stay, they talked those other guys into it.. we’ll vote for them, man.”

The House seems to have bought into the global-warming- type propaganda also and thinks that, magically, they’ll win the hispanic vote if they pass SOMETHING, ANYTHING, to do with legalizing what is illegal. Enforcing the law, or pressuring others to do so with the tools they have is never considered for some reason. This will cause ones who vote for the bill to lose any conservative support, and with the IRS suppressing the conservative grassroots operations, there will be fewer primary challengers with a chance. We’re screwed.

The republicans are spinning the cylinder of a revolver with only 1 empty chamber and are about to pull the trigger not realizing that the crooked game they are playing has the rules stacked against them.

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